Puerto Rican Style Beans

My husband’s FAVORITE meal is rice and beans. I don’t make them as often as he would like, so this was his Valentine’s Day dinner request with breaded pork cutlets (I will share that recipe tomorrow).

This is my quick version of Puerto Rican style beans, which I make with either pink or red canned beans and diced potatoes, perfect when you need a quick side. I originally posted this back in 2009 (original photo below made with pink beans) and took the opportunity to reshoot.

We serve it over white rice but it’s also great over brown as a side dish to chicken, pork chops or steak. You can easily make it a meatless main dish, served over rice with avocado (and some hot sauce!) and call it a meal.

I usually have sofrito in my freezer, I make big batches of it for beans and other dishes. Here I scaled it down to make an exact amount, but if you have your own homemade I use 1/4 cup.

Don’t Miss a Recipe!

You May Also Like:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Rate this Recipe:

Name *

Email *

Website

By submitting this comment you agree to share your name, email address, website and IP address with SkinnyTaste. This information will not be used for any purpose other than enabling you to post a comment. *

I made this recipe in my instant pot and it was fantastic! Made this, the pernil, and white rice for my book club last night and everyone loved it. The beans remind me of my mom’s cooking. Thank you for your easy and delicious recipes!

Hi Gina, as always, another wonderful recipe. Our New Year’s dinner was pernil, your Latin Yellow Rice and these beans. My father-in-law is Puerto Rican (from the Island) and thought these were great! Thanks again for all you do to make the weight loss journey tasty.

yum, so so good! My Jewish husband, who is not the least bit crazy about Latin food, had a grandma from Spain and said these were amazing, just like grandma’s rice and beans. This will be on repeat, as so many of your no fail recipes are in our home.

The picture looks more like 1.5 teas vs. 1.5T of sazon. Are you sure it’s 1.5 T? Also if you wanted to use Goya Recaito– how much of it would you use instead of the fresh sofrito you listed? Thank you!

The flavors in this are amazing, but it is a little on the salty side (even with homemade Sazon). My main problem was that the potatoes did not get soft enough. I cooked it longer than 20 minutes, at least 30, but some of my potato cubes are barely cooked. Next time I’ll dice it very very small.

My husband is Puerto Rican and always wants Puerto Rican food like his family would make, though he does not know the recipes himself. I found this recipe on one day and made it for him. and he LOVED it, he even said it’s better than he mom’s habichuelas. I have made it several times since. This recipe has definitely been a livesaver. Thank you!

Hi there, I found your blog by Googling “Puerto Rican Rice and Beans” because I was really having a craving. I admit, I wasn’t so interested in “skinny taste” but I made this recipe last night anyway. It was SO delicious that you’ve totally won me over!

My husband raved over this, more than anything else I’ve made in at least 6 months. I served it as a side to your garlic-lime pork chops, and at least twice he told me he would eat the beans as a meal. (A meatless, bean-based meal is unheard of in this house.) He even told me I should share the recipe with his sister. Needless to say, this will go into the regular rotation!

Made this last night and LOVED it! Used a sweet potato instead of regular since it was what I had and it was perfect. We had it with cilantro lime rice and a dollop of guacamole on top. This is a great go-to meal since it utilizes many pantry and fridge staples that I always have on hand. Came together about as quickly as it would have taken to order and pickup takeout food! Definitely throwing this into our meal rotation. So cost efficient too!

Made this as a side dish to your breaded pork cutlets with lime. After every bite, my husband sighed, "This is SOOOO good!" Now he and my son are fighting over leftovers! Obviously, this was a big hit!

Frankly, the recipe here calls for a high sodium content. This is due to the MSG that exists in commercial sazon, the gum in Goya tomato sauce, as well as the water solution in the canned beans (also injected with MSG). Opt for dry beans, rinse, and cook with homemade sofrito (without MSG) or any tomato base sofrito, make your own sazon, and use kosher salt instead of deriving sodium from the aforementioned products.

This recipe is scrumptious! I substituted an Anaheim chile for the banana pepper and served over white rice as a complete meal. The seasoning and the sofrito really take it to another level, but you still can't beat how cost-effective and easy it is to make. I'll definitely be cooking this again.

I made this for dinner tonight. And my Puerto Rican husband LOVED it. My 15 month old son who is so picky lately ate THREE servings! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe on Instagram recently. I'm so glad I saw it! This will definitely make it into our dinner rotation!

Being Puerto Rican myself, I love seeing these recipes on your site! I make my beans almost exactly like your recipe, except I add ground cumin and either smoked turkey or a smoked pork neck bone. Thanks Gina!! Vanessa

If one is going to substitute a Banana pepper for the Cubanelle, one must make absolutely sure that the Banana pepper is a sweet type. They come in both hot & sweet varieties, & the hot ones can be searingly hot.

Hi there! I know this is an old post, and I'm sorry to bug you! Should the banana pepper be fresh or pickled? (I never see them fresh, which is why I wanted to clarify). If I can't find them, would you have any suggestions for a replacement? Thank you! – Meredith

I just made this to go with Skinny Roast Pork and it was fantastic. I left out the potatoes to save a point. The unique spices and ingredients are essential to this recipe. I will definitely make this again. Thank you!

I LOVE all of your awesome Latin and Caribbean rice and beans recipes. This one is my boyfriend's favorite, but when I made this–and the rice with pigeon peas recipe, too–I found the Sazon to be a little too cloying/salty to really enjoy it. (Very sad!) Can you recommend some seasonings to make a homemade substitute for Sazon?

I made this tonight (though I admit I cheated with a jarred Sofrito, just this once!) and it was fantastic. Since it said "side dish", I threw in half a turkey smoked sausage. Delicious, but I think it would have been enough without it as a main dish. Thanks for the great recipe! I'm marking this one. 🙂

I am making this for my sister and myself tomorrow night. I love this website and have found that I really really like Latin food. I like being able to come to this site and find something tasty, nutritious and NEW! I get so tired of the same ole thing all the time. That's what makes sticking to healthy foods/diet difficult for me. Thanks to your recipes I am finding a whole new world of tasty and good for me dishes. Just a question, would this be a complete meal served with some brown rice? Or would white rice be better? I know the point value is different.THANKS!

made this with white rice and your empanada recipe, great combo. you know what i like about this one? nothing is different from how you would normally make this. besides the bay leaf, which is just a herb and adds nothing calorie wise, this is exactly how i make my PR beans. so this style of making beans is just naturally low in calories, who'd a thunk?! have you ever made or tried verduras con bacalao? i would love to make this one low in calories or points.

i have tried many recipes off of Gina's Blog and so far no disappointments … these beans were amazing!!!! I made them with the string beans in garlic and the Tilapia Oreganata… so freaking good… I'm addicted to this site!

Gina – Your family is so lucky to have you cooking for them! All the recipes that I've tried from your website are so delicious that it's hard to believe that they are healthy too. But the thing I appreciate the most is that they are quick to prepare! These beans are fabulous and I feel like I'm cheating on my diet since they are only 2 points a serving. Thank you again!!!

This looks great! I grew up with this dish and ate this as a compliment to every meal but breakfast from the ages of 1-18. I don’t make it much anymore now that I’m watching what I eat and my salt intake, but this really does look like a great compromise. Now if only I could get some of my mother’s recaito, I’d be a happy girl 🙂

Sazon is a seasoning used on meats, fish, poultry, beans and even to flavor soups and stews. Typical ingredients include cilantro, corriander, annatto, azafran, achiote, garlic, onion or salt. Some brands contain MSG so check labels. I buy Badia Sazon Tropical because it has no MSG. It is found in the Latin or Mexican aisle.

I love Puerto Rican rice and beans!Can I find pink beans at the regular grocery store? I know that I have never been able to find gandules unless it’s at a latin market.Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes!

Actually, it's a seasoning mix used in most latin and caribbean cooking, especially Puerto Rican and Cuban. It's a combination of salt, garlic, cumin, anatto and other seasonings. Usually comes in the international aisle near the mexican seasonings. Accent is a very common brand name, but Goya has some as well.

Welcome!

Hi, I’m Gina Homolka, a busy mom of two girls, author and recipe developer here at Skinnytaste.com. My food philosophy is to eat seasonal, whole foods and maintain good portion control (everything in moderation!).